Online Assessments: SafeAssign + Tips and Pitfalls

2. Online Assessments:SafeAssign + Tips and Pitfalls • “Whats” and “Whys” of assessments • Assessment types • Types of test questions • Assignments • Rubrics • SafeAssign • Peer Review

3. Blackboard’s Assessment Features • Blackboard’s “Assessments” • Tests • Surveys • Other Assessment Tools • Assignments • Self and Peer Assessments • SafeAssignments • Links to External Publisher Assessment Tools • Other Gradable Activities • Discussion Forums • Journals, Blogs, Wikis • “Instructor’s Choice”

4. Advantages of Online Assessments • Increase student engagement • Provide timely feedback • Location- and time-independent • Automatic score recording • Time-saving (Students and Instructors) • Inclusion of online media

5. Disadvantages of Online Assessment • Students require technology • Students require technology skills • Technology problems • Impersonal • Difficulty providing assistance during a test • Integrity Issues

6. Uses for Online Tests • Traditional Testing • Gather (useful) information • Assess your teaching • Pre-class preparation • Online Worksheets • Practice tests

7. Commonly-used Types of Questions

8. Commonly-used Types of Questions • Multiple Choice • Students pick the single correct answer • True/False • Students choose whether a statement is true or false • Fill in the Blank • Students must fill in a blank or blanks with the correct answers

9. Commonly-used Types of Questions • Matching • Provides two columns for students to match • Short Answer or Essay • Students type their answers into a text box • Only difference is the size of the answer box • File Response • Students can upload a file to answer the question

10. More Types of Test Questions • Calculated Formula • Assigns values to variables in an equation and asks students to calculate the answer • Calculated Numeric • Fill in the Blank question which only accepts a numeric answer • Hotspot • Student must click on the correct (rectangular) area of an image

11. Still More Types of Test Questions • Jumbled Sentence • Students select the correct order of answers from a drop down list containing all of the potential answers • Opinion Scale / Likert • Survey-style answers based on an ordered scale • Quiz Bowl • Jeopardy-style “answer with a question” • Either/Or • Fancier True/False question which allows other dichotomous answers like agree/disagree • Multiple Answer • Students choose all answers which are correct • Ordering • Students must place a list in the correct order

12. How to Build a Test • Manually, from scratch • Use Respondus to import from .doc files • Re-using questions • From other tests • From Pools

13. Test Exceptions and Feedback

14. Test Best Practice • Provide a practice test in your Course • Provide Test‐Taking information to your class • Randomize the order of answers • Don’t use “all of the above” and “none of the above” or other positional questions • Use a mixture of question types • Structure tests with sets • Avoid large images or other large media

15. Academic Integrity • Difficult to prevent students from referring to other sources • Online tests should be viewed as open book • Steps to reduce the potential for dishonesty: • Have students sign an academic integrity policy • Limit the time for completing the test • Use “Question Sets” and randomization to present a different version of a test to each student • Create a follow-up assignment requiring students to apply the knowledge they have demonstrated on a test • Proctor the online tests where you can monitor student activity

16. Assignments • Allows for paperless marking • A “drop box” for electronic submission • Automatic creation of Grade Center column • Drop box “closes” on or shortly after the due date • Two kinds available • Regular Blackboard “assignment submission area” • SafeAssignment

17. Grading Assignments

18. Grading an Assignment • From the Grade Assignment Window: • Download submitted document • (Use track changes?) • Enter comments • Enter Grade • Upload marked document

19. Rubrics • Clarify expectations for assignment • Standardize marking across graders • Improve feedback • Time-saving

20. Create Rubric

21. Grading With A Rubric

22. Rubrics Available… • Assignments • SafeAssignments • Essay, Short Answer, and File Response test questions • Blogs and journals • Wikis • Discussion board forums and threads

23. SafeAssign: The Plagiarism Detection Tool for Blackboard SafeAssign™ is a plagiarism detection and identification service included with our Blackboard license. It helps educators determine if plagiarism has occurred by detecting unoriginal content in student papers.

24. Instructors: How to Begin • Go to a Content Page such as ‘Course Content’ • Under ‘Assessments’ choose SafeAssignment. • Choose ‘student viewable’ = NO

25. How Does SafeAssign Work? • The submitted papers are checked against SafeAssign’s databases of source material: • The Internet: comprehensive index of documents available for public access on the Internet. • ProQuest ABI/Inform database. • Institutional document archives. • Global Reference database: papers volunteered by students from Blackboard client institutions. • Trent students cannot contribute to the Global Database.

26. Sample Originality Report

27. Types of Submissions • Student Submit: • A dropbox is created in Blackboard • Student may submit only one document • Paper becomes part of the Trent repository • Direct Submit: • Instructors can submit particular papers or portions of papers • Paper becomes part of the Trent repository

28. Best Practices for SafeAssign • Do not use the ‘student viewable’ option • greatly increase questions and anxiety for students • report should be viewed subjectively by the instructor • Do not use the ‘draft’ option • draft assignments do not join the Trent Repository • Demonstrate to your students: • what a safeAssign report shows • emphasize whether or not it’s plagiarism is still subjective

29. To Be Aware Of • “Trent Respository” and the “Global Respository” hosted on Blackboard’s servers in the US • Documents are identified by code number • Key linking code and student is held only on Trent’s server • Trent students’ submissions cannot become part of the Global Repository • Disabled for Trent

30. Peer Review • The Blackboard Guide: http://www.trentu.ca/it/learningsystem/documents/self_peer_assessment.pdf • Blackboard’s Help Pages: https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Instructor/070_Assignments/005_Self_and_Peer_Assessment • A good quick guide from University of New South Wales: https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/blackboard-assessment

31. Questions Contact Us: Web: http://www.trentu.ca/trentonline Email: online@trentu.ca